In CA, healthcare law extends coverage to former inmates

It's been two months since Rodrigo Salido left the maximum security wing at the Santa Rita Jail, and two months without pills for his bipolar disorder. The medication, Risperdal, prescribed by a jailhouse psychiatrist, had quelled Salido's angry moods. "It helped me be more relaxed," he said. "Not as much on the edge and feeling like everybody is out to get me." When he got out of jail, Salido, who served two years for burglary, assault and gang involvement, had no health insurance and few options for refilling his medication. He was like many inmates who leave county jails and state prisons with mental health problems and chronic physical ailments.